Laptop won't turn on, charging LED doesn't glow

My laptop is plugged in but it won't turn on and the LED that shows it's
charging isn't lit, even though it's plugged into a charger and the
charger output is measured just now at about 17vDC

I'm not surprised the battery is dead, I haven't used it for 6 months or
more, but I do remember the charging-led working the last time it
worked. 

This seems like an unusual sort of failure.   Does it seem very
improbable to you too? 

After "charging" for 30 minutes, it still won't turn on and the CD drive
won't open by presssing the button.   Is there a reset I don't know
about?  Could a failed battery keep the light from going on?  Shouldn't
it run off the charger even if the battery is bad?  I know the answers
are No, No, and Yes, but I'm grasping at straws. 


A friend gave me this Acer aspire E15, also called an E5-573-35AQ

It worked fine when I got it and I added software. I think I bought a
new psu to replace the missing one.  

Does this sound like something a very handy person could himself? 

(My friend called me to ask if he had left certain software on it.  I
don't think so but I was checking.  If it's broken it's a good thing I
know now instead of just before I leave on a trip.)